Assistive Technology and Educational Best Practices for Students with ADHDCreated by: Kerry Shelton, Megan Procailo and Alexis Miller

Characteristics of ADHD

ADHD is a condition of the brain that makes it difficult for a person to control their behavior. This is a disorder that typically appears in childhood with diagnosis usually being made between 6-12 years of age. About 3 times more boys than girls are diagnosed with ADHD. It is a disorder that continues into adulthood.

Teachers are often the first to identify a child who may have ADHD. Unfortunately general education teachers often lack training about how to best help these children. This page is created to serve as a resource for teachers who may be dealing with ADHD in their classroom. There is a good chance that you will have a student with ADHD in your classroom each year. In a classroom of 25-30 children there is likely to be a child with ADHD.

Something Else You Should Know...

ADHD is NOT a learning disability and it is not classified as a disability under IDEA 2004. Many children do receive special education services if they are diagnosed as otherwise health impaired. Often students with ADHD receive individual accommadations under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. As a result, the way in which special education services are delivered to these children varies widely between states and even between schools.

For more information regarding characteristics, interesting facts and educational strategies that correspond with ADHD. Click on the image below.

This is a great short video about Brad, a 12 year old with ADHD. He explains some of the challenges he faces and also some of his hobbies.

Assistive Technology

AssistiveTechnology is defined as "Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially or whether off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of people with disabilities" (Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988).It is beneficial to students with ADHD because it can help improve certain skills and deficits and increase self reliance. Assistive technology can range from low-tech, to high tech to no tech. There are vast amounts of ideas, teaching practices and equipment available utilizing AT. However, the most important thing to remember is to always be flexbile and open-minded using multiple strategies to fit the needs of the individual student.

6 Steps to finding appropriate AT

1. Collect child and family information. Discuss the child's strengths, abilities, preferences and needs. What strategies have been found to work best?2. Identify activities for participation. Discuss the various activities within the environments that the child encounters throughout the day. What is preventing him/her from participating more?3. What can be observed that the intervention is successful?4. Brainstorm AT solutions. Start with what is already available in the environment and consider adaptations to those materials. 5. Try it out. Determine when the AT intervention will begin and create an observation plan to record how the child participates with the AT supports. 6. Idenitfy what worked. Remember this is a learning opportunity for both the teacher and the student. Make modifications as needed and try again.

Assistive technologies have a large range of items. It can be anything from a pencil grip to expensive and limited technology. This section will focus on some of the smaller and easy to implement assistive technologies. These things can be found at a local store, inexpensive and can be implemented almost immediately.

Non-technological Assistive technology for Students with ADHD

Highlighters

A highlighter is a great way to differentiate and make accommodations. A student could use a highlighter to draw out the main ideas from a reading asssignment. A student could also receive a copy of your notes and they highlight everything that the teacher highlights on the projector or underlines on the board. This allows the student to stay at the same pace as the rest of the class without losing content and information due to slow writing or processing skills.

Porcupine Pens

These are pens that have been decorated with a hot glue gun to make porcupines all over. They work really well for students that need the tactile feel. It helps students stay focused instead of tapping pencils or tearing paper or finding something else to touch they are getting the simulation from the pen and thus, still focused on their work.

Timers

Sand timers, online timers, and egg timers are all effective for classroom management. This assistive technology helps students maintain focus for that period of time. If it is for the whole class an online timer helps give them a sense of perspective of how long they need to work – it also helps the class come back together. If it is for an individual student an egg timer can be a great way to keep them focused and then that child may either receive a short break or an activity of their choice. An egg timer can be a great way to keep an impulsive student engaged – the student can time themselves to finish a sorting assignment or any other quick activity.

Stress Balls

A stress ball is another great way to keep students who need tactile items engaged and focused on the lesson. A great replacement for a stress ball can be a binder clip – it serves the same purpose.

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers can be used in all subjects and grade levels. They assist students in many ways and can be differentiated for each student. They make the material less intimidating for students that shut down quickly. They help provide direction. They help students to organize content and to also pick out the essential information.

Sticky Notes

Such a simple thing but it can do wonders! Sticky notes come in many different colors so each color can be designated for a specific role. The student could use them when reading a novel they cannot write in. They could use them as behavioral cues. They could have a place in the room where they place the sticky note when they have a question – thus allowing for physical movement within a lesson.

More Assistive Technologies

These assitive technologies are highly effective with today’s students yet, require a bit more effort to obtain than the list above.

Clickers

Clickers are remote control looking items that record student’s answers to questions. They can be multiple choice questions or polls. It is a great way to get immediate feedback and data on student’s knowledge of the material. Clickers are engaging for all students – especially those with learning disabilities. They provide instant feedback for the student and involves technology It engages the student while maintaining focus on the lesson and task at hand.

ipads

ipads are a great assistive technology for students. They can be easily moved around with a child and have so many different apps that can support the child in whatever content or skill where support is needed. ipads are engaging yet, also provide a great tool for instruction. They are visual, hands on, and can be auditory.

Text to Speech Programs

The programs and tools that create text to speech are great for students who are auditory learners, struggling readers, or have visual impairments. This allows the students to listen to the text while following along with the reading. The student is no longer focused solely on word recognition but now focused on the content and main ideas.

Smartboards

A smartboard is a great way to provide engaging lessons and differentiated instruction. There are so many different aspects to a smartboard that students can be asked to perform tasks they are comfortable with. A student who needs physical movement can be asked to perform a specific task with the smartboard. This provides them with the physical movement, kinesthetic learning and a visual reinforcement of the content.

Specific Brands of Assistive Technology

Livescribe Pen - This pen can record audio. This audio can be uploaded to a computer.

Assistive Technology Blogs

There is a plethora of information on assistive technologies. Below are a few blogs that are useful in gaining more knowledge, ideas, and understanding of assistive technology. These blogs are a great resource for implementing assistive technologies into the classroom.http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/This blog is informative on the many different aspects and possibilities to assistive technology. It is easy to navigate and explore.http://nolimitstolearning.blogspot.com/This blog is a great resource for those who want to implement more technology in their classroom. It is specifically geared towards students with disabilities yet, it would be helpful to any student. http://www.atintheup.blogspot.com/This blog is also easy to navigate and explore. You can look up posts based on learning disability or assistive technologies. It provides many creative examples of how to use and implement assistive technologies.

Informative resources on Assistive Technology for ADHD

The Family Education Network - Marvelous Resource Website for the Parent, Teacher, and Kids, providing information and resources including one of the top kid friendly website for online games - funbrain.com; Parents - FamilyEducation.com; Teachers - TeacherVision.com; Kids -FEkids.com and FunBrain.com